As MMA continues its popularity boom around the globe, the talent pool of Brazilian fighters is becoming more and more apparent.

Take for instance, the famed Nova Uniao team, home of UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo, as well as a host of notables that includes Eduardo Dantas, Wagnney Fabiano, Marcos Galvao, Thales Leites, Diego Nunes, Marlon Sandro and Ronys Torres, among countless others.

On New year’s Eve, Nova Unaio product Rodolfo Marques (14-1 MMA, 1-0 DREAM) hopes to add his name to that list.

“This is the fight of my life,” Marques recently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) in his native Portuguese. “I’m all in – 100 percent focused to make a good fight and bring the belt home.”

Marques is one of four competitors in this weekend’s DREAM bantamweight grand prix semifinals. In order to take the belt, Marques would need to win two fights in the single-night tournament conclusion, which takes place Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, airs as part of HDNet’s live broadcast of “DREAM: New Year! 2011.”

Marques faces a countryman, Bibiano Fernandes (9-3 MMA, 6-1) in the first fight of the night.

Fernandes, of course, was DREAM’s featherweight champ before surrendering the belt to Hiroyuki Takaya one year ago. He defeated Takafumi Otsuka in the opening round of the bantamweight tournament, but he’s best known for wins over Joe Warren, Masakazu Imanari and Joachim Hansen.

“The focus is wrestling and ground work,” Marques said. “I train a lot of wrestling at my academy with Cuban teachers. My standup is the advantage I have.”

Marques carries an 11-fight win streak into the matchup. His lone career loss came in March 2009, when he lost a unanimous decision to Luis Nogueira, who has since posted a 2-1 mark under the Bellator Fighting Championships banner.

“For sure his victories increase my worth,” Marques said. “I’d like to face him again. The result would be different.”

Should Marques defeat Fernandes at”DREAM: New Year! 2011,” he would then face the winner of Antonio Banuelos vs. Imanari for the belt. It’s the type of accomplishment that would certainly earn him a little attention on the international scene. However, Marques said he isn’t eyeing a spot in the UFC.

“I’m doing very well in DREAM,” Marques said. “I think I could be fighting in the UFC but they already have two of my friends (and teammates), and I don’t wish to face them.”

So for now, Marques lies just off most fans’ radar, looking to make his name one fight at a time. He recently added fatherhood to his list of responsibilities, but it hasn’t slowed the Brazilian during his time in the gym.

Marques knows this weekend’s contests could prove a key step in adding his name to the list of notable Nova Uniao products rather than existing as just another fighter in a gym full of monsters.

“It doesn’t affect me negatively at all,” Marques said. “It only serves to strengthen me even more to bring the belt back home.”

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